Publications: Nuclear Security & Deterrence Monitor

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 Contractors on Aug. 5 demolished the last 10 of 50 deactivated Minuteman III silos previously operated by the 564th Missile Squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana to comply with the New START Treaty, Global Strike Command said. The dismantlement comes two months after workers finished reconfiguring the multi-headed […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 LA VISTA, Neb.—After establishing a program manager for uranium production, National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz said the agency is strengthening—and in some cases creating—program manager positions for all of its life extension programs as well as its plutonium and tritium work. Speaking at U.S. Strategic Command’s Deterrence Symposium […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 A new bipartisan National Institute for Public Policy study has concluded that minimum deterrence is an ineffective model for the post-Cold War world.  Along with several academics, six retired high-level military officers and three former U.S. ambassadors contributed to the 59-page report titled “Minimum Deterrence: Examining the Evidence.” The study […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 As Airmen face uncertainty related to the Air Force budget and service downsizing, the service has moved $50 million to shore up immediate, near-term nuclear facility upgrades and to compensate additional personnel to staff crucial jobs within Global Strike Command. The service has requested $350 million for GSC’s five-year-long Future […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 A bipartisan group of 26 Senators remains upset with the Obama Administration’s commitment to nuclear nonproliferation and is asking the Administration to request more funding for nuclear security work in Fiscal Year 2016. Led by Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the Senators criticized the Administration for reducing […]

Congress was out and Washington was empty, but that didn’t stop news from breaking during our annual publication break. As chronicled in the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, here are a few stories that we’ve been following. AECOM Facing Legal Challenges to Planned Purchase of URS AECOM disclosed earlier this month that it is facing several […]

DNFSB Raises Safety Concerns About LANL TRU Waste Facility Project NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 With construction looming on a new Transuranic Waste Facility project at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is raising a handful of safety issues, including some that are old and some that are new. In an Aug. 7 […]

Fired Y-12 Guard Loses Final Appeal for Reinstatement NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 One of the casualties of 2012 break-in at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant has suffered another setback. Kirk Garland, the security police officer fired after the security breach, lost his arbitration case in which he sought backpay and reinstatement. Garland said he was notified […]

New H-Canyon Missions Starting Up After Pause for Upgrades NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014   After a months-long unexpected pause in operations at the Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon facility to make numerous upgrades, the facility is poised to start several new missions. That includes production of plutonium oxide and downblending of used fuel at the site’s L […]

As is our annual practice, Nuclear Security and Deterrence Monitor is taking a summer publication break and will not publish for the next two weeks. The next regular issue will be on your desk Aug. 22. Subscribers to the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing service will receive editions twice-a-week on a Tuesday/Thursday basis during the break. […]

Recommendation Would Avoid Call For Drastic Move to DoD, Independent Agency Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The Congressional advisory panel on the governance of the nuclear security enterprise is solidifying the recommendations it will make in its final report and is preparing to call for the authority of the National Nuclear Security Administration to be […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 AIKEN, S.C.—Lawmakers gathered at the Savannah River Site early this week voiced optimism about keeping construction going on the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project in Fiscal Year 2015, but Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said the future of the project remains unclear and is subject to sustained funding for the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The Nuclear Weapons Council has formally committed to build two modular structures to help sustain Los Alamos National Laboratory’s plutonium capabilities, opening the door to freeing up approximately $90 million in funds that had been in limbo as lawmakers pushed for a promise on the modular approach. Nuclear Weapons Council […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 As the State Department released its annual compliance report this week, formally accusing Russia of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Congressional lawmakers urged the Obama Administration to take action against Moscow. “We must take action to hold Russia accountable and bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty,” […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 Language in the Senate Appropriations Committee version of the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Act unveiled last week includes a subtle warning to the National Nuclear Security Administration about future contract consolidation across the weapons complex. The committee was previously skeptical of the NNSA’s consolidation of the Y-12/Pantex […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 Los Alamos National Laboratory contractor Los Alamos National Security, LLC, could soon be on the hook for cost overruns on major projects, according to documents obtained by NS&D Monitor. According to a March 25-28 review of the Transuranic Waste Facility project, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, NNSA’s Office […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 A new report from Harvard University’s Belfer Center criticizes the Obama Administration for backing off its nuclear nonproliferation plans and calls on Congress to restore at least $100 million in nonproliferation cuts in Fiscal Year 2015. The report, “Cutting Too Deep: The Obama Administration’s Proposals for Nuclear Security Spending Reductions,” […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 USEC’s contract with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to continue work on the American Centrifuge Project has been formally extended through March of next year as the lab this week exercised a $41.6 million six-month option to fund the program. The extension, revealed in a July 31 filing with the Securities […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 A federal judge this week denied a request from the uranium conversion services ConverDyn for a preliminary injunction to prevent the Department of Energy from moving forward with planned transfers of excess uranium while a lawsuit the company has filed against DOE is pending. ConverDyn was unable to show that […]

Staff Reports NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The second anniversary of the July 28, 2012, security breach that radically transformed the Y-12 National Security Complex and had an impact on security throughout the government enterprise passed this week, and the three perpetrators—self-named the Transform Now Plowshares—issued a statement defending their actions and calling on followers to not […]

Mike Nartker NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 With no explanation, the Department of Energy abruptly changed the management of the DOE Berkley Site Office late last week. Paul Golan was named acting director, replacing Aundra Richards, who had headed up the Berkley Site Office since 2005. Golan also continues to serve as Director of the DOE SLAC […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The delivery of key nuclear detonation sensor equipment for use on Air Force satellites has been jeopardized by poor project management at Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, according to a Department of Energy Inspector General’s Office report released this week. The National Nuclear Security Administration was tasked with producing […]

NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board Member Joseph Bader passed away this week at the age of 75. Bader had served on the DNFSB since 2004, and previously held executive and senior management positions at several companies, including Hill International, Inc., Fluor Daniel, Inc., Urenco, Inc., Exxon Nuclear and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. In […]

Senior Analyst Alleges Retaliation in Firing Over Publication of Nuclear Abolition Article NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 A senior nonproliferation analyst at Los Alamos National Laboratory says he was fired by the lab in retaliation for a report that aligns with President Obama’s nuclear policies but ran afoul of laboratory officials, according to a report by the […]

DNFSB Reveals Concerns About Maintaining Y-12 Uranium Facilities NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has so far refused to release a copy of the annual assessment of Y-12’s old production facilities, but a recently released memo by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board revealed some highlights—as well as the concerns about […]

NS&D Monitor 8/1/2014 IN CONGRESS The Senate is continuing to slowly confirm the Obama Administration’s nuclear nominees, clearing Brian McKeon as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy this week. He was confirmed by voice vote. McKeon, who was nominated to the position in January, had his nomination held up over GOP concerns […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 In comments that appear to signal a softening against the battered Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction at the Savannah River Site, Deputy Secretary of Energy nominee Liz Sherwood-Randall this week called MOX the Obama Administration’s “preferred solution” for plutonium disposition before squarely placing the onus for funding the […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Senate appropriators fully funded the Obama Administration’s $643 million Fiscal Year 2015 request for refurbishment work on the B61 bomb, but according to documents finally released by the panel this week, it appears they did so grudgingly, and with considerable reservations. Led by Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair […]